Sunday, January 5, 2014

Most club members will be familiar with my two
“rag top” vintage cars (1929 Chev Tourer and 1930 Model A Ford Roadster)
which I have owned and rallied for much of our club’s long
history. Although I dearly love these sometimes cantankerous old girls,
there are nonetheless times when I have wished for a vehicle more
suitable to drive on the longer rallies we sometimes get involved in. As
many members are well aware, old vintage cars can be quite tiring on
really long trips.

Accordingly,
last October found me at the famous US Hershey car swap meet, largely
to check out what the market was offering there. My interest for a
possible purchase tended to something a bit rare to Australia, such as a
coupe or convertible from the 1940s. (I actually owned a ‘47 Ford
Mercury coupe many years ago when living in Canada.) Of course, I saw
many interesting cars at Hershey, but anything nice cost
plenty. Furthermore, there was nothing reasonable in the brand and body
style I favoured, namely a 1940s era Plymouth.

It
wasn’t until I was on my way home, in part travelling by train from
Hershey/Carlysle to Detroit and Chicago that I spotted an ad in Hemmings
Motor News, listing a 1948 Plymouth coupe for sale. This was described
as an original unrestored, low mileage model, located in the eastern
state of Ohio. Unfortunately, by then I wasn’t in a position to
sidetrack my journey, so had to put off further enquiries until I
returned home.

Back
in Canberra a week later, I called ‘Gene’, the Plymouth owner in
Ohio. When I obtained more details about his car (and that he approved
of its export), my interest went into overdrive! However, I still was
not convinced enough to make an offer on the car without a formal
inspection. Fortunately, by a stroke of luck, a Vancouver friend had
relatives in Ohio living within 40 miles of the Plymouth. Furthermore,
they had a background in farm equipment/motor mechanics, and seemed
quite happy to inspect the car for me. To cut a long story short, back
came a fairly glowing report that “my” car was a little beauty, being
solid and well cared for, with low (43,000) miles and with great
potential. By then, wild horses couldn’t dissuade me, and, as other
buyers were ‘in the wings’, I immediately contacted Gene offering him
the listed price and commenced arrangements for shipping the car to
Australia out of New York.

When
the car arrived in Sydney this autumn, readers can imagine my
excitement as I pulled up at the Botany shipping terminal with my ute
and car trailer. There it was, an original 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe
Coupe, just out of its shipping container, parked beside the Customs
facilities. It was slightly travel stained from its long voyage, but
nevertheless, to me it looked pretty terrific and very pleasing to the
eye.

Once
back in Canberra, I carefully checked out the car and was amazed to
find it in such good order. Virtually everything worked, including the
various electrical accessories; the cloth upholstery was original and
spotless while the black (factory?) paint was very acceptable for a 63
year old vehicle. Even more surprising, the chromed bumpers and
stainless steel trim were unmarked while the motor ticked over like the
proverbial clock. All in all, I was now convinced what a fortunate
purchase this had been.

Later,
on putting the car through rego, I was not too perturbed that the
inspectors found a few minor faults. These were principally leaking
seals on the brakes, transmission and differential, probably suggesting
long periods of storage. Fortunately, Gene had sent a parts/repair
manual with the car, and I was able to order replacement seals from the
US. Our club’s Albert Neuss (a Chrysler product fanatic if ever there
was one!) wrestled with the very rusty bolts etc on the brake cylinders
and a Fyshwick company adjusted the steering. (I have no plans, by the
way, to convert the car’s left hand drive.) The final motor registry
inspection took place in early June and the car now carries historic
plates on club registration.

So
there you have it, the story of yet another car (a ridiculous 3rd) in
my stable. This car I feel will quite satisfy my needs at this stage in
my ‘vintage’ life, although the true test will only come with extended
driving and how it stands up to future events. I can only wish we both
will have many years ahead of happy rallying together.

OK
so you have a vehicle to restore. It has four
wheels—glass—gearbox—engine—sort of. The body looks straight—has no
brightwork—has no interior—or dash. It is a basic shell.

So
let us remove the glass, door handles, etc and take the shell down to
be grit blasted back to bare metal. DISASTER. The paint hid a multitude
of sins—like bog in the door sills, front mudguards and evidence of rust
holes.

Now we dig out all the old bog to see what is underneath—yuk—not a pretty sight—any panel damage has not been panel beaten, but filled and is centimetres thick.

Don’t
despair. In the paper I find a Humber Vogue sedan for sale—phone
call—look see—has right colour interior in reasonable condition—1 month
rego—doesn’t go. Negotiate a price and drag it home for spare
parts. Things are improving—maybe.

The
vehicle had all surfaces blasted, inside outside, underneath in fact
every crevice was treated. Now came the task of removing the grit and
dust. I have an industrial vacuum cleaner that can suck pigeons off
poles and spit out feathers. With various size hoses and nozzles I was
able to extract 2 x two gallon buckets of grit from within crevices and
places. Good job done I thought. Had a look inside next morning and the
“grit fairy” had been—there were little piles of grit everywhere. What
to do? I laid carpet down on the grass and tipped the wagon onto its
roof and vacuumed up another bucket full of grit then turned a high
pressure water hose into it—cleaned up the mess—allowed to dry, tip back
onto its wheels and that got rid of the “grit fairy”.

Next turn our attention to the panels.

I
read in the Humber magazine that Vogues have a problem with drainage
from the air scuttle in front of the windscreen and with the front
guards being double skin. I decided to drill out the spot welds and
remove the front section to make work easier and to tidy up bits and
pieces.

So
after much panel beating, shrinking and beating of panels they were
ready to receive a thin covering of bog about 3 mm thick to hide any
imperfections. After painting inside the front section it was re-fitted aligned with the bonnet and finally welded into position.

Painting
was the next step with etch primer, undercoat, spray putty and top coat
being applied to all surfaces with much rubbing back between
applications of paint. The finished colour is Smoke Green.

Now
comes the assembling of the body parts, wiring looms, plus extra wires
for radio speakers, rear window demister and some spares, window
winders, door catches, glass in new rubber, upholstery, roof lining,
dashboard, crash padding and so on it goes. How does this fit? Over to
the sedan, looking, remembering, back to estate and fit. Lucky to have a
sedan of the same vintage to refresh the memory.

The
mechanicals came next. Out of three engine blocks, one was
selected—machined to suit 60 thou oversized pistons, crank shaft and cam
shaft journals polished with bearings to suit fitted. I had two alloy
heads and the better one was selected, machined, valves seated ready to
assemble.

The
engine components were assembled and stood to one side ready to be
fitted into the body. The gearbox came out of the parts sedan with a new
bearing fitted to the rear cover and new oil seals to front rear
shafts. The gearbox was attached to the engine.

The
body was then jacked up off the ground about 1/2 metre and on stands to
remove and clean the rear and front suspension members. The read
end—what a mess—the diff centre had teeth missing off the crown and
pinion wheel. New crown and pinion obtained and assembled into the diff
centre by a transmission specialist, new wheel oil seals. Dismantle and
clean the springs, install new bushes, paint, reassemble and fit back
into the body.

While
the body is off the ground this is a good opportunity to fit brake
lines, fuel lines, hand brake cable and anything else to be done
underneath.

The
front cross member was removed from the body, brake callipers removed
and reconditioned, new ball joints, components cleaned, painted,
reassembled and put back into the body. The brakes had the callipers
reconditioned, new rear wheel cylinders, new shoes and pads master
cylinder honed. Lines were connected—system bled and now we have
brakes.

The
motor and gearbox were fitted into the body, tail shaft fitted, all
components fitted, battery, radiator, electrics, etc. The big moment
arrives—so see if it will start. Petrol in the tank—prime the
carby—check oil levels again—turn the key—it turns over—it fires—it
goes. A quick tune up on the b=carburettor, depress the clutch, engage
reverse gear and it moves. Out on the driveway and down the street—a bit
noise as it has no exhaust system fitted. It goes and it stops.

The
wagon is taken to an exhaust centre where extractors are fitted along
with a complete exhaust system. Then next door to an auto electrician
where the charging rate is checked—doesn’t work—new generator fitted and
the electrics now work.

Take it down to motor registry to get it registered—failed hand brake—adjust—re-test and passed.

Pay the money, pick up number plates, fit and take it for shakedown drive—don’t forget the tool box—Murphy’s law you know.

This 1960 Ragtop VW beetle is located in Oceanside CA.
It has the original 6V system, and all electrical components work
great. It has the original yellow CA plates with original DMV 1960 blue
reflective sticker (plate restored). It is a daily driver with one mild
restoration with same color paint job, body is uncut and not modified in
any way, paint has some minor chips and scratches but it still shows
well and it is a strong runner, never hit and no major dents. It has the
original working radio. The engine is the original 4-cyl 1192cc/36hp
1bbl, which has been rebuilt and works great. I am the second owner
bought from original owner. It has under 60K original miles. Priced
right for a fast sale. Just ask for more pictures and details. Click Here for Phone Number, Pictures and more information. Source: thesamba.com

It’s from January 1957 was on the road until 1966 where it was stored in a barn for 45 years !!it was found while the barn was torn down, this is why the dents in the roof.

Yes it at real time machine with real patina NO fake…

Here are some facts:The little rust it had in the heater channels have been repaired it’s now without any rustRunning
the original drive line a good 1200/30HK engine newly service on a
split gearbox Converted to 12 Volt electric with a Porsche 90mm dynamoSeats have been change to some form a 1957 with seat recliner so still the correct fabric but without holes..Window rubber have been change.Lowered with a narrowed beam, dropped to the floor yet still drivable, can be even lower…All breaks overhauled with new parts

Update: It is now running on new BBT Sprintstar with new tires 145/65 15 and 195/65 15.Se pictures in here on this site.Also: an origina standard steering wheel is included in the price.The car is imported from Sweden and has a Swedish title, but car is in Denmark.All EU: duties paid.

Originally known as the 'International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race', the 2.5 mile oval in Speedway, Indiana
plays host annually to the largest motorsports event in the world, the Indianapolis 500.
With the exception of the years America was in World Wars 1 and 2, the 500 has been run every year since 1911.

Along
with the growth of America's middle class, affordably-priced
sports-cars appeared after WW2. During 1946 to 1952, many small
companies introduced sports cars to the American public, including
Kurtis Sportscar (later to become the Muntz Road Jet) and Nash-Healey,
introduced in 1950.

Although
the GTO is most often cited as the first muscle car, history shows that
Pontiac wasn't the first car company to drop a big motor in a mid-sized
car, but they were the first to market a mid-sized car with a big motor. The 1964 Tempest-based GTO was wildly successful, prompting other car companies to use the same formula.

After
1970, Pony car sales started falling. The '73 U.S. Oil Crisis made the
gas-thirsty Pony cars fall further in the marketplace. The Challenger,
Cuda, and Javelin were gone after '74. GM's Camaro and Firebird would
continue, as would the Ford Mustang and Mercury Cougar.

Corvettes
have paced the Indy 500 race a grand total of eleven times, which is
more than any other model car. The first Corvette pace car was 1978, and
the most recent was 2012. Pace cars are displayed in full force at the
National Corvette Museum.

In
November of 1973, Road and Track magazine featured a short story by
Richard Foster called "A Nice Morning Drive". Neil Pert, drummer/lyrist
of Rush, loosely based "Red Barchetta" around Foster's story. It's set
in a time and place where the cars we know and love are completely
illegal, but not completely gone.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A happy New Year! Grant that IMay bring no tear to any eyeWhen this New Year in time shall endLet it be said I've played the friend,Have lived and loved and labored here,And made of it a happy year.~ Edgar Guest ~